Bailu, the 15th of the 24 solar terms, marks the end of mengqiu season and the beginning of mid autumn season. Today is Bailu, so what are the customs of Bailu solar term? Bailu solar term is the season with the largest temperature difference between day and night in the year, so we must pay attention to cold prevention and warmth preservation.
1. Eat longan
There is a traditional custom in Fuzhou, Fujian: Bailu eats longan. Eating longan on Bailu day has the effect of Tonifying the body, because longan itself has many effects, such as tonifying qi and spleen, nourishing blood and calming nerves, moistening and beautifying skin, and it also helps to treat anemia, insomnia, neurasthenia and other diseases. Moreover, before Bailu, longan was big, with small kernel, sweet taste and good taste, so Bailu can't eat longan better.
2. Stewed black bone chicken
Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other places also have the custom of Bailu Festival. People in Cangnan, Pingyang and other places gather ten kinds of white on this day (also known as "three kinds of white") to simmer black bone and white hair chicken (or duck), which is said to nourish the body and remove the wind (arthritis) after eating. This "ten kinds of white" is ten kinds of herbs with the word "white", such as hibiscus, white hair bitter, etc., to correspond with "White Dew" literally.
3. Drinking Bailu tea and Bailu rice wine
Old Nanjing people are very fond of Bailu tea. After the hot summer, Bailu tea is a good time for its growth. Bailu tea is not as fresh and tender as spring tea, not soaked, nor as dry and bitter as summer tea, but has a unique sweet and mellow fragrance, especially loved by old tea customers. There is also the custom of brewing Bailu rice wine in the old Nanjing of Southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In the old days, Bailu rice wine was made in the countryside of Jiangsu and Zhejiang every year to entertain guests. People often brought Bailu rice wine to the city. Bailu rice wine is brewed from glutinous rice, sorghum and other grains, which is slightly sweet, so it is called Bailu rice wine.
4. Sacrifice to the king Yu
Bailu season is also a day for Taihu people in Anhui Province to sacrifice Yu king. Yu Wang is the legendary hero of water control Yu, and fishermen beside Taihu Lake call him "water Bodhisattva". Every year on the eighth day of the first month, the Qingming, the seventh day of the seventh day of the seventh day of the seventh month and the Bailu season, there will be incense festivals for Yu king. Among them, the Qingming and Bailu spring and autumn festivals are the largest, lasting for a week. At the same time, they also offered sacrifices to the God of land, the God of flowers, the silkworm flower girl, the door god, the God of house, and Jiang Taigong. During the activity, "fighting fishermen and murderers" is a play that must be performed. It places people's hope and yearning for a better life.